Fulton man on Honor Flight served in WW II, Korean War

As a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, Gale L. Fuller, 85, of Fulton had been asked a few years ago to participate in the Honor Flight program. He had declined because he had already seen the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Gale L. Fuller

“Callaway County Western District Commissioner Doc Kritzer asked me several times,” Fuller said.

But after his friends who went on the flight urged him to go, Fuller decided he would accept the invitation.

“I’m looking forward to the trip,” Fuller said.

Fuller retired in 1995 after a 40-year career as a psychology professor at Westminster College in Fulton.

Fuller grew up in Hastings, Neb. In May of 1945 the war in Europe had ended with Germany’s surrender on May 8 but the war in the Pacific was still raging with Japan.

In May of 1945, Fuller said he asked his father to go with him so he could join the Navy because he didn’t want to be drafted into the Army.

Because he had an interest in biology, he was allowed to enlist at one rate higher than normal.

After boot camp, he was assigned to the hospital corps school in San Diego, Calif. and then transferred as a surgical nurse to Key West, Fla., and became a second class petty officer.